An invitation to the editor of Edinburgh’s student paper

You’re reading this because quite a long time ago now, I was a student at Edinburgh University. As well as doing a bit of academic work, I fell into journalism editing the university newspaper. It’s called the Student and it’s pretty old. Founded in 1887 – by people including Robert Louis Stevenson – it’s probably Britain’s oldest student newspaper.

I can write this today because of my time as a student journalist: without that experience, there’s no way someone of my background would have made it into the national media. The paper also helped people who went on to have vastly more distinguished careers than mine: Gordon Brown, Robin Cook, David Steel all wrote there. Fleet Street and broadcast journalism is littered with former Student writers.

I am writing about the Student today because its current editors have done what student journalists should always do: something stupid and awful that outrages previous generations.